Meandering thoughts about life, philosophy, science, religion, morality, politics, history, Greek and Latin literature, and whatever else I can think about to avoid doing any real work.
I'm sorry, but your point is not immediately obvious to me. Are you saying that the sections of the Bible that describe God killing people and/or ordering their killing should not be taken literally? And if not literally, how should we take it?
As for how we should take such passages, that will depend upon the particular passage, its surrounding context, and the mind of the Church.
To take the most obvious example, certain passages in the Old Testament require the death penalty for certain offenses against the Law. The Church does not mandate the death penalty for anything and, indeed, recently has suggested that the death penalty may be otiose. Clearly the idea is that such passages license the use of force in defense of the common good, that is, they recognize certain states of affairs in which the use of deadly force may be permissible if the ends are properly ordered to the common good. It does not follow from this that the use of deadly force is thereby necessary.
2 comments:
I'm sorry, but your point is not immediately obvious to me. Are you saying that the sections of the Bible that describe God killing people and/or ordering their killing should not be taken literally? And if not literally, how should we take it?
Jason
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.
As for how we should take such passages, that will depend upon the particular passage, its surrounding context, and the mind of the Church.
To take the most obvious example, certain passages in the Old Testament require the death penalty for certain offenses against the Law. The Church does not mandate the death penalty for anything and, indeed, recently has suggested that the death penalty may be otiose. Clearly the idea is that such passages license the use of force in defense of the common good, that is, they recognize certain states of affairs in which the use of deadly force may be permissible if the ends are properly ordered to the common good. It does not follow from this that the use of deadly force is thereby necessary.
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